Samuel Castro-Flores, Hostage Taking, Texas 2012

HOUSTON, TX – In a shocking turn of events, Samuel Castro-Flores, a 41-year-old Mexican national, has been convicted of 18 counts, including conspiracy to commit hostage taking, hostage taking, and other charges involving smuggling aliens and firearms, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson.

A federal jury in Houston delivered the guilty verdict after a two-week trial that lasted only an hour of deliberation. The charges against Castro-Flores stem from an investigation that began in mid-August 2012, when two illegal aliens were smuggled into the country and their family members received extortion calls demanding money for their release.

On September 7, 2012, agents executed a search warrant at a residence on Amblewood Drive in Houston and found 26 illegal aliens, including at least two juveniles, being held hostage inside the residence. The victims reported being forced to undress, held in locked rooms with boarded-up windows, and guarded by men constantly armed with a handgun.

The evidence presented at trial showed that Castro-Flores was the leader of the organization that held the aliens hostage and extorted their families for thousands of dollars before their release. Castro-Flores took extensive steps to avoid being detected by law enforcement, including asking witnesses to help him present a false story that he was simply a repairman who happened to be at the Amblewood residence on one occasion to fix the air-conditioning.

Prior to committing the offenses in this case, Castro-Flores was convicted of conspiracy to harbor aliens in the Southern District of Texas in July 2009 and subsequently deported in January 2011. He re-entered the United States after his deportation and was arrested in this case on December 5, 2012, in Houston.

Castro-Flores was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit hostage taking, five counts of hostage taking, one count of conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens, five counts of harboring illegal aliens, one count of being an alien illegally present in the U.S., one count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens, two counts of transportation of illegal aliens, as well as using and carrying a firearm in furtherance of a crime and brandishing that firearm.

U.S. District Judge Gray Miller has set sentencing for June 28, 2014. At that time, Castro-Flores faces up to life in prison for each of the hostage taking counts, up to 20 years for the illegal entry after deportation, and up to 10 years for each of the alien harboring and transporting counts. For the firearms charges, he will also face another seven years to life in prison, which must be served consecutively to any other prison term imposed.

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